personal growth - Pivotal

Positive Thinking Every Day: An Inspiration for Each Day of the Year

ISBN: 9780671868918 | Format: Paperback | Publisher Pocket Books

In a world where the negative occurs by default, programming one's mind with a positive antidote is necessary on a regular basis. Books such as this will help you obtain that needed mental nourishment.

Thousands of studies have shown how much stress affects your emotions and health - and how reducing stress can have an incredibly powerful effect on your daily life. The mindset you set up for yourself each day can literally make you more healthy - and keep you that way.

This is where Norman Vincent Peale's book comes in.

Norman Vincent Peale's philosophy of positive thinking has had an unprecedented influence on millions of people throughout the world. Now, the wisdom of nine books -- including The Power of Positive Thinking -- can be found within these pages.

“I look at this GREAT little book every single day. Why? Each page has date. And below each date there is a short, highly meaningful quotation from Norman Vincent Peale that helps me keep my perspective.”

Timeless in their message, invaluable in the course of daily life, Dr. Peale's classic books provide inspiration when you most need it and lead the way to a fuller, happier, more satisfying life.

“These short but potent quotes are like a shot of psychological and spiritual Vitamin C.”

‘For example, here's one. "For the next twenty-four hours, deliberately speak hopefully about everything, about your job, about your children's marks in school, about your health, and about your future." Isn't that an amazing thought - that it might be a challenge to be hopeful, just for 24 hours? If you were actively hopeful, what kind of beneficial ripple effects might that have on others around you? It could literally make your entire environment incrementally better.’

With a new introduction by Dr. Peale, Positive Thinking Every Day will help make your every day the best it can possibly be.

Buy the book (and postage is free) ...R.R.P. = AU $16.99 Our Price $14.99

10 % Discount $13.50 [Pivotal Gold Basic members]

40% Discount $8.99 [Pivotal Gold Plus Members]

Personal Growth

Get Lost: The Secret To Thinking Outside The Box

The essence of being happily human is to be creative. Few things in life are more fulfilling than transforming something old or non-existent into something new, better, faster, less expensive, more lucrative, joyful, efficient, effective, etc. And the secret to creative power is to get lost in what you're "creating." Getting lost is necessary to finding what's new.

Why? Because you can't come up with something new, different or original using your same old thinking mind. The metaphor and cliché for this concept is "thinking outside the box." But that's a misnomer because creativity is only partially about thinking. The purpose of thinking and feeling is just to get things started, get the creative process stimulated -- not to get the answer directly. This is where you may be going astray. The answer cannot be completely thought out no matter how smart you think you are.

Outside-the-box means outside the conscious, personal, thinking mind and into the subconscious, knowing mind. That's where all the creative power and action is. That's the faculty the answers come from. That's the higher level of consciousness you want to operate on all the time to be creative all the time. This is a form of meditation, perhaps the highest form.

All your thinking mind has to do is just get out the of way and let the creative process unfold. It unfolds from the subconscious by itself to the degree your personal, thinking/feeling mind is out of the way -- your ego is out of the way! Don't try, push or stress. That's the catch: Your effort needs to be effortless for it to work.

First, think or brainstorm about the new thing you strongly desire to create. Once it's clearly in mind and you're satisfied it is, then let it go. Drop it. Detach from it. Let it incubate. Let it sink into the subconscious for advanced processing.

Finally, just be calmly and patiently receptive to the answer -- which is guaranteed to come to the degree you are persistent and convinced that it will come.

You become a creator, inventor, explorer of that which is new and different -- that which has never been produced or expressed exactly this way before. Your getting lost in uncharted, unknown territory is the great joy, thrill and adventure of creation. You were created to be a creator, and fulfilling that purpose is what the good life is all about.

Author: William F McLaughlin. Bill is a stress and meditation expert with a focus on the law of detachment and how to apply it to personal & professional excellence. He's the author The Power of Personal Detachment: Letting Go of Everything All The Time. - About how to be your higher self by keeping a distance from your lower self. Visit Bill at http://www.AdventuresInSelfUnderstanding.com. - A website dedicated to the study of detachment and how to apply it to resolve any personal or spiritual difficulty. Contact Bill with your questions and comments at ZenWilliam@yahoo.com.

Business

What’s the Big Idea?

How do the "Big Ideas" that change the course of business come about?

The movie What's the Big Idea? shares the secrets of entrepreneurial success.

videos

Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation

Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Quotations

Life quote from William Harold White

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)

The old saying is wrong—winners do quit, and quitters do win. Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point—really hard, and not much fun at all. And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you’re in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

According to popular business blogger and bestselling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons.

In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you ll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps.

Either they fail to stick out the Dip they get to the moment of truth and then give up or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

Whether you're a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you're in a Dip that's worthy of your time, effort, and talents.

If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit so you can be number one at something else. Seth Godin doesn't claim to have all the answers. But he will teach you how to ask the right questions.

Author: Seth Godin

Seth Godin is the author of eighteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. For a long time, Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.
In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth was founder and CEO of Squidoo.com,. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.
You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at sethgodin.com

Buy the book Now available from The Book Depository or Amazon

Goals, Success

Why Every Successful Person Sets Goals

Every successful person we know sets goals. But what's the secret behind of the power of goal setting they know but you don't know? This article reveals the 4 benefits that you may not have ever imagined.

goals

Have you ever heard of any successful people, super achievers or elite performers who don't set goals at all?

Honestly I have not.

Goal setting is an important aspect in both your professional and personal lives. Without having goals to strive for, we won't be able to measure our success or achievements. We won't be able to spot our weaknesses and improve ourselves. We won't be able to target our strengths and fully unleash our potential.

While setting goals is crucial to getting what you want in life, what other amazing benefits do this simple act bring you that make all the successful people love?

#1 Control and Certainty

By regularly setting goals and achieving them you are taking control of your life.

This is an empowering mindset, attitude and behavior to have because you are acknowledging that life doesn't 'just happen to you'. There is a lot that is within your control when it comes to creating the ideal life you want and working towards the direction that's right for you.

#2 Optimism and Positivity

Apart from being certain about the future you're heading, setting goals and taking action to achieve them will influence you to have a more positive and optimistic outlook.

This vibe of positivity will help you build stronger mental resilience, which is essential to help you keep going when things become tough or when you got hit by challenges.

Instead of feeling down, depressed or defeated by the hardships, your resilience, optimism and mental toughness will ensure that you see the temporary setback as it is and pick yourself up using your personal power to find a creative way to overcome it.

#3 Wellbeing

Through goal setting you will have created a long-term plan for your life. In your mind, you've created a vision of what you want and worked out a way to get there.

This sense of purpose gives you a feeling of hope that you can achieve what you want. These are all positive emotions which have powerful effects on your mental and physical wellbeing.

Stress levels will be reduced, as will the likelihood of depression emerging. While you are working towards achieving your goals, you will increase your levels of focus and your ability to use it at will to help you get the results you want.

#4 Getting Into Flow State

The regular setting of meaningful goals ensures that you maximize opportunities to utilize the power of flow.

This miraculous flow state occurs when:

you have a meaningful goal;
position yourself away from external distractions;
have all the necessary resources at hand;
have matched the task to your abilities so that it contains enough challenge to keep you motivated and engaged but not too little so that you become bored; and
immerse yourself in the task completely.

Getting into the flow state not only helps you achieve goals, but it also drastically elevates your productivity, relieves stress and increases happiness. The benefits of the flow state have been recorded by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Hungarian positive psychologist who wrote the famous book <Flow: The Psychology of Happiness>.

By having goals, you are increasing your chances of success. You are also taking positive steps to creating the life or business that you want.

While it seems to take a lot of effort setting goals at the beginning, the benefits you experience will far outweigh any time spent creating, monitoring and meeting them. If you desire to become a more productive, optimistic and proactive, then you should definitely follow what other successful people do - setting goals.

If you REALLY do not know the 5 Little Known Ways To Double Your Productivity yet, we need to fix that. Join hundreds of other guys already using it right now FREE in my step-by-step training. Alternatively, check out my value-packed productivity blog here.

Personal Growth, Quotations

Your Pivotal Thought for the Day

How Hollywood Villains Can Teach Us How To Make Our Dreams Come True

The characters in director Michael Mann's West Coast noir thriller Collateral (2004) starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, provide excellent examples how Hollywood villains can teach self-improvement and how to get the most in life.

In fact, often you can learn more from Hollywood villains than you can from the heroes.

The plot in a nutshell is about Max (Jamie Foxx), an erudite cab driver who picks up Vincent (Tom Cruise), an assassin. Vincent's plan is to murder the witnesses overnight who are to testify at the trial of a drug lord the next day. The first hit goes awry exposing Vincent as an assassin. From this point forward Max is knowingly Vincent's hostage as they continue to drive through the night to kill each of his targets.

Vincent represents all the elements of someone who is crystal clear about his objective and pursues it ruthlessly, relentlessly and efficiently without any wasted time or motion. It's all hard work but it pays off repeatedly despite occasional setbacks. As Vincent succinctly put it, it's all about "adapting to the environment" to get things done and plays whatever character is required, from the charming chameleon to the hard-nosed businessman to immediately seize the opportunity.

On the other hand, Max has dreams of starting an exclusive limousine company for VIPs and does extensive research by collecting glossy brochures of town cars. But it's a dream that's never left the drawing board in 13 years. The similarities are that both men are highly intelligent, imaginative, creative and meticulous planners to the point of perfectionism.

And that's where it ends.

The big difference between Vincent and Max is that Vincent acts out of a sense of urgency. Vincent is in a profession in which "failure is not an option," while Max, as a cab driver, can waffle blissfully through life day dreaming about his VIP limousine service year after year about starting a VIP limousine service.

This all changes during this hostage encounter when Vincent applies Max's traits and tactics when his back is against the wall using his skills as a creative sort, personality and attitude to get out of a situation alive. Max's procrastination is self-inflicted.

It's the most insidious of our inner demons are quiet and unassuming that drain us of spunk and energy. We have dreams but do little or nothing to making them a reality, always making convenient excuses of how difficult it is and blaming everyone and everything around us when obstacles get in the way or when the project regresses. Like Max our excuse is that every element in our project must be perfect, when in fact perfection doesn't exist.

We're composed of the ying-yang element. We are dreamers like Max and we've also achieved goals in a no-nonsense manner like Vincent.

Imagine if we could achieve our dreams through more action.

That's why we must create a sense of urgency in some way in our moral, ethical and legal pursuits of our dreams and not let time slip away. Use Vincent's advice to propel yourself out of the psychological quicksand and seize the day - everyday - and live life now because life is shorter than we imagine. The video link below is a powerful cinematic snippet and wake-up call of how many of us go through life like a zombie. When faced with uncomfortable powerful truths that are meant to help us, we can become quite angry - angry at ourselves - for not doing something. I highly recommend taking a close look at Max's expression as Vincent tells Max the way it is.

Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2014.
All rights reserved.
Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based global advisory service and think tank with connections at the highest levels. International business is increasingly complex featuring a highly mobile professional class in all corners of the globe. We provide you the tools to successfully negotiate cross-culturally in your global business endeavors. Tell us about your challenges. We'll get on the "Short List".
Available for speaking engagements and workshops. Check out my international media profile as TV panelist, published articles and contact information:Speaker Profile http://www.speakermatch.com/profile/GlobalAdvisors/

Stories

Don’t Hope, Friend…Decide!

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had one of those life changing experiences that you hear other people talk about. You know, the kind that sneaks up on you unexpectedly? Well, this one occurred a mere two feet away from me!

Straining to locate my friend among the passengers deplaning through the jetway, I noticed a man coming toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

First, he motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They gave each other a long, and movingly loving hug. As they separated enough to look in each other's face, I heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!" His son smiled somewhat shyly, diverted his eyes, and replied softly, "Me too, Dad!"

Then the man stood up, gazed in the eyes of his oldest son (maybe 9 or 10) and while cupping his son's face in his hands he said, "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much Zach!" They too hugged a most loving, tender hug. His son said nothing. No reply was necessary

While this was happening, a baby girl (perhaps one or one and a half) was squirming excitedly in her mother's arms, never once taking her little eyes off the wonderful sight of her returning father. The man said, "Hi babygirl!" as he gently took the child from her mother. He quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest while rocking her from side to side. The little girl instantly relaxed and simply laid her head on his shoulder and remained motionless in total pure contentment.

After several moments, he handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. He gazed into her eyes for several seconds and then silently mouthed, "I love you so much!" They stared into each other's eyes, beaming big smiles at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant, they reminded me of newlyweds but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn't be. I puzzled about it for a moment, then realized how totally engrossed I was in the wonderful display of unconditional love not more than an arm's length away from me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if I were invading something sacred, but was amazed to hear my own voice nervously ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married?"

"Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those," he replied without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife's face. "Well then, how long have you been away?" I asked. The man finally looked at me, still beaming his joyous smile and told me, "Two whole days!"

Two days?! I was stunned! I was certain by the intensity of the greeting I just witnessed that he'd been gone for at least several weeks, if not months, and I know my expression betrayed me. So I said almost offhandedly, hoping to end my intrusion with some semblance of grace (and to get back to searching for my friend), "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"

The man suddenly stopped smiling. He looked me straight in the eye, and with an intensity that burned right into my soul, he told me something that left me a different person. He told me, "Don't hope friend...decide." Then he flashed me his wonderful smile again, shook my hand and said, "God bless!" With that, he and his family turned and energetically strode away together

I was still watching that exceptional man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, "What'cha looking at?" Without hesitating, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, "My future!"

Michael D. Hargrove

Tag Archive for: personal growth

How do the "Big Ideas" that change the course of business come about?

The movie What's the Big Idea? shares the secrets of entrepreneurial success.